


Someone to Lean On

by oneforeveryday



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Partially Blind Zuko (Avatar), Partially Deaf Zuko, Protective Sokka (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneforeveryday/pseuds/oneforeveryday
Summary: Prince Zuko prefers fighting with his right side.aka snippets of their relationship + partially blind and deaf zuko
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 107
Kudos: 1737





	Someone to Lean On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmmoKnotKnot7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmmoKnotKnot7/gifts).



> This is verry rushed, but it was pretty fun to write. I'm also working on the next chapter of my other fic and it will be out very soon!
> 
> This is inspired by a post I saw on tumblr a week or two ago, but I spent about half an hour looking and couldn't find it. Please lmk if you know what I'm talking about and have a link.
> 
> EDIT: Someone lovely in the comments found the post!
> 
> https://www.google.ca/amp/s/omni-flex.tumblr.com/post/623885840348823552/sokka-is-the-first-to-notice-zukos-loss-of-vision/amp

Prince Zuko prefers fighting with his right side. It’s not that he’s weaker or less skilled with his left limbs, but he always shifts into a defensive mode whenever one of them gets his left side exposed, sending out strong blasts of fire to protect himself instead of attacking the other person.

He could just be right-handed or maybe firebending forms favor the right side as well, but either way Sokka uses Zuko’s slight hesitancy to land a quick blow to his ribs. He snarls in retaliation, his stupid ponytail whipping with the sharp movement of his head as it turns to meet Sokka’s. 

Later, Sokka will remember the brief flicker of fear in Zuko’s eyes when Sokka had made that particular jab. He looked as if he’d been caught off guard by his hit though it was pretty predictable. Not for the first time, Sokka wonders about the origins of the nasty scar on the prince’s face and how after all this time it could make him mess up like that. Whatever it was, Sokka’s thankful it allowed him to make the boy who had been terrorizing them for months look so frightened.

\---

Zuko walks from the forest briskly with an armful of firewood. He’s on edge, more so than usual, and he takes a shaky breath to steady himself. He recognizes the patterns in the earth enough to know he should be close to camp, but he feels the panic rising in his bones. His whole body itches to move into a defensive stance, to prepare for the worst, but the wood he’s holding prohibits him. If someone were to attack there'd be a moment of vulnerability spent to drop the wood. Maybe if he were with the others it wouldn't make a difference, but Zuko knows what damage Azula can do with a few seconds and a hint of weakness.

Something in him feels like he’s being watched, or that someones coming, but the feeling is on his _left_. He can’t see from that side and the muffled noises he sometimes picks up make no difference amidst the silent trees. No amount of training, of adapting to make up for his gaping blindspot can help out here, where he can't prepare to bend or ready his swords or rely on others to make up for his _deficiency._

Zuko wants so badly to whip his head around and check, but the sun has long since set in the sky, and if he turned and got disoriented he might lose his sense of direction and his way back to the temple. With the moon and stars hidden in the thick labyrinth of branches overhead, he’d only have his vague memory of particular rocks and roots on his path to guide him. Again he fights the urge to abandon the wood and just light a flame, but he can't come back empty-handed.

The spirits answer his greatest fears and a foreign hand clamps onto Zuko’s left shoulder, causing him to flinch back and stumble to the ground, wood falling out of his grip on it's own accord. 

“Whoa Zuko, didn’t mean to scare you there, thought you would have heard me. Anyway, Aang’s vegetarian menu didn’t really satisfy my warrior appetite so I came out here to catch some _real_ dinner.”

Sokka extends his free hand to him, the other grasping the leg of some dead animal swung over his shoulder. Zuko hastily gathers the fallen firewood and gets to his feet _without_ Sokka’s aid though he cringes a little at the way Sokka has to awkwardly take his hand back

“So what were you thinking about? You seemed pretty out of it when I came up to you?”

Sokka’s still on his left while they walk and it’s not helping to alleviate the rapid beating of Zuko’s heart. He can hear him well enough if he turns his head a bit, but he still wishes it wasn’t necessary. 

“I was thinking about _someone_ sneaking up on me.” He snaps. Sokka only chuckles.

“Really dude? I mean I can be stealthy when I want to, but I wasn’t exactly quiet. You should really get your ears checked.” Sokka says it with a smile, but it quickly fades when Zuko looks down instead of meeting his eyes with the usual glare. 

To his credit, Sokka recovers quickly and moves onto another subject, though Zuko doesn’t miss the glance he gives to the scarred side of his face, probably just now noticing the faint fogginess in his eye. For his pride’s sake, he pretends not to see through Sokka’s cursory excuse of having a rock in his boot when he stops briefly, emerging on Zuko’s right side when he catches up. 

\---

After that night Sokka always approaches from the right. Zuko knows he didn’t say anything to the rest of the group because they still move around him freely; the incident in the woods was an exception to the many times Zuko has been able to swallow his panic and hide his flinches, so for now Zuko thinks that Sokka is the only one who knows about his weak spot. He would berate himself for allowing it, but it’s actually kind of nice. It’s shocking to Zuko that someone could see him so vulnerable and not use it against him. 

Sokka _accommodates_ him. He always calls out when he’s getting near, and never passes things to him from the left. When they spar, he either slightly exaggerates his movements so he’ll catch them on time or avoids swinging where Zuko’s vision ends entirely. Zuko finds himself becoming comfortable around him, the way he hasn’t been since Uncle who probably always knew about the extent of his injuries.

He didn’t realize how much he missed being able to let his guard down a little. He still worries that the group hasn’t accepted him or that he’ll keep messing up, but at least fewer of his conversations begin with him quietly recovering from being startled. 

\---

Sokka concludes that Zuko’s scarred eye and ear don’t work very well. Now that he knows, it’s hard to believe he didn’t catch it before. The guy flinches _a lot._ He feels guilty for scaring him so badly that one night, but Zuko seems a lot more relaxed around him after he started hanging around his right side. He keeps this up at Boiling Rock, walking next to him so that if he looked at Zuko he’d only see unmarred skin even without the helmet. 

This changes when Zuko’s found out. The guard who spotted him yanks him roughly by the arm and calls out to Sokka for help while Zuko looks around distressed and Sokka suddenly feels an overwhelming surge of protectiveness over Zuko. They’re not quite friends yet, but he’s an ally and if they get out of this alive he’ll probably be friends with Zuko for life just out of gratitude. Either way, he knows about his blindspot and he doesn’t want some random guard moving around where Zuko can’t protect himself. He doesn’t want Zuko to feel _scared._ So he moves next to the guard and pretends he’s patting _them_ down for injuries, only so that he can shift into Zuko’s vulnerable space and grab his arm in a way he hopes is gentle. 

From then on he doesn’t let anyone but himself on Zuko’s left if he’s around. He’d rather he be a bit uncomfortable with Sokka’s presence there then have him be exposed to someone who actually wants to hurt him. Those people are plentiful among the guards, some look at their former prince with a distaste that makes Sokka’s stomach sick. 

By the time they’re all safely on Azula’s airship he’s exhausted. He musters up the energy to spend a couple hours catching up with his dad and Suki, waiting till the end of the night to approach Zuko from where he’s leaning against the railing of the observer deck. For a moment he debates going to his right, but that somehow feels wrong. Surprisingly Zuko doesn’t flinch. Sokka wonders briefly if he just hasn’t noticed him yet and that he’s going to freak him out again, but then he turns his head slightly towards Sokka.

“You know.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

Zuko shifts a bit closer, makes himself a bit more vulnerable. He doesn't say it upfront, but the message is clear to Sokka.

_I trust you._

\---

“Zuko!” 

Aang jumps down gracefully from Appa’s back before toppling towards Zuko and sending both of them to the ground in a bone-crushing hug. He hasn’t seen his friends in close to a year, having parted ways a couple months after the war when they all left the Fire Nation. He’s missed them all terribly and though he’s pretty sure Aang’s greeting will leave a bruise he much prefers it to the distance all his advisors and servants and _everyone_ has been giving him. 

Uncle left for Ba-Sing-Se months ago and Ty-Lee left with the Kyoshi Warriors at the same time as the others so for a while his only companion was Mai. He probably would have crumbled under the pressure of it all if not for her quiet company, but even then they didn’t touch much. It was easy to let go of something he never really had. Losing her as a girlfriend didn’t hurt so much once they figured out they only loved each other platonically and when they still had a strong friendship in the aftermath. He keeps her letters from her recent travels in the Earth Kingdom along with the ones from Uncle and his other friends, cherishing the words and the small comfort their written voices bring him. He even gets one from Toph, along with a note from the scribe she hired. 

The letters mean a lot, but they don’t compare to their faces in the flesh, bright with smiles directed at _him_. Their easy touches are like a breath of fresh air from the stifling formality he’s grown accustomed to. He tries to memorize them all, cataloging the feeling away for when they leave again; Aang’s bear hug, Katara’s familiar embrace, and Suki’s kiss on the cheek. He even hangs onto the punch he gets from Toph, but most of all he relishes in Sokka. 

He’s the same height as Zuko now and broader in the shoulders, his laugh rings out a bit deeper than before, but it's all the same as he wraps his arms around Zuko. He keeps a splay hand on his shoulder when they pull apart, immediately moving to Zuko’s left. 

He could almost cry at the relief he feels. He didn’t truly notice until the feeling was gone, but for months Zuko has been tense with the stress of covering his blindspot on his own. He suspects that Suki figured it out when she oversaw him with her warriors right after Ozai was defeated, but they had to leave for Kyoshi and he was left with the Fire Nation guards. He’s comfortable enough with them, but they don’t know about his impairments and he hates the way they move in and out of the limits of his vision. Even Mai would either catch him off guard or leave his weak side open, though he knows there's no way she could have known to do better. With Sokka, he can _finally_ relax because not only is he aware of Zuko’s lack of sight and hearing, he actively defends it. 

They walk through the halls, conversations carrying loud throughout the otherwise quiet palace. He can’t see Sokka or make out the words he’s saying without straining his good ear, but he’s somehow all that Zuko notices. 

\---

“On your left!” 

He has a second to register Sokka’s voice coming from behind him before he’s there on his scarred side, waiting for Zuko to turn his head before he begins venting about how much he is _not_ looking forward to the meeting they’re about to attend. He places a hand on Zuko’s elbow in a gentle gesture to guide him, the small contact being a familiar thing between them. He keeps it there even as they make their way to the council room, the staff and advisors having grown used to the easy friendship between the Firelord and the Southern Water Tribe ambassador.

Some older generals still scowl discreetly when Sokka takes his seat. He doesn’t rank high enough to be that close to the Firelord under what's traditionally customary, but he can’t bring himself to worry about their displeasure when he’s so secure under Sokka’s protective gaze. 

\---

He sees the general long before Zuko does from his place across the courtyard. The man had called out to Zuko twice and gotten no response before he seemingly snapped, stomping bitterly as he makes his way over to the Firelord. Sokka moves to his feet as well, wanting to get to Zuko before the general, but the man is already yelling right in his scarred ear and causing his boyfriend to recoil away violently. 

“My lord, I am aware that you outrank me, but I will not tolerate this disrespect! I have addressed you multiple times and you have chosen to ignore me. I have served this nation since before you could crawl and I will not allow you to belittle me like this!”

“General Taso, I apologize, I did not hear you--”

The general cuts him off with a scoff, but before he can raise his voice again Sokka takes Zuko’s hand. 

“ _General_ _Taso_ , if your observational skills are as good as you boast I’m sure you must have noticed that--”

Zuko interrupts him this time, giving him a very pointed look that Sokka knows means _we’ll talk about this later._ “I apologize again, General. I was very deep in thought. I meant no disrespect to you and I will be more attentive in the future.”

Taso seems pleased with that and turns to leave with a small bow. Zuko turns to face him with a stern look, but he quickly drops his gaze when he begins to speak. 

“I don’t want you telling people.”

“But they’re rude to you! If people knew maybe stuff like this wouldn’t happen! It’s not anything to be ashamed of, please, Zuko, I don’t like that people keep doing this to you when I’m not there.”

Zuko meets his eyes now, determined. “I’m not ashamed. Not anymore. I just-- I only trust you with this, Sokka.”

Sokka pulls him in for a hug, letting go of his hand so he can fit his arms around his waist. He doesn't think he'll be able to bite his tongue if another sleazy general raises his voice outside of the council room, but he's sure as hell not going to break Zuko's trust.

\---

Zuko hates these types of events, but he’s enjoying this particular one a bit more. It’s hosted by an old Earth Kingdom family for some anniversary he can’t remember and the only people invited were very high ranking nobles and leaders. This means that Zuko doesn’t have to plan or worry about anything for the night except going about giving all his proper greetings and that he can delight in Sokka freely. Ambassadors weren’t included on the guest list, but Sokka is at his side as always, only this time they accompany each other as fiances.

They normally don’t show too much affection in public even when their duties allow it, but tonight neither of them is showing much restraint. Sokka’s arm hasn't left his waist the entire evening and they lean into each other heavily as they move throughout the hall. Some of the other guests definitely gawk at them, but Zuko drags him to the dancefloor anyway and they crash together sloppily. Sokka winds his hands around his neck and leans in to kiss his cheek and the edge of his scar before dropping his head onto Zuko’s shoulder with a drowsy smile, standing impossibly close to him as they sway, completely forgoing all etiquette and duty. Even so, Sokka still angles his body slightly to cover Zuko’s scarred side, always protecting it even while tired and tipsy. 

\---

Sokka shakes with rage as he sprints to their chambers. There was another assassination attempt on Zuko, but no one had alerted him until after his meeting adjourned. The brief recount of the story did not help ease his mind in the slightest. It was only a single, knife clad pedestrian who had charged at Zuko while he was walking in Caldera, and his guards had stopped it before he could even touch Zuko, but Sokka still thinks that any attempts on Zuko’s life take precedent.

When he opens the door he finds a familiar sight, but it still upsets him nonetheless. Zuko sits on the edge of their bed with his hair down and his chest bare except for his necklace. He looks shaken as he always does after attempts, hands trembling slightly, and his expression terror-stricken. For a second he doesn't notice Sokka, but they both let out a shaky breath when their eyes meet, Sokka immediately moving to his side.

Zuko holds onto Sokka’s bicep with both of his arms and leans into his shoulder, hiding his good eye and ear in Sokka’s chest. He realizes quickly that Zuko is solely relying on him now, both his vision and hearing obscured by his scar and Sokka himself. It reminds him of when Toph would grip him similarly whenever she was separated from her element, on Appa’s saddle or Katara’s ice. Oddly Toph's fear had calmed him amongst the chaos, or at least brought him back to earth; Sokka's very good at protecting people, to the point where he's almost anxious if he's only got himself to worry about. Having Zuko depend on him at this moment is the only thing that shakes off his fury. He can swallow his own panic and fear if it means comforting Zuko.

That’s not to say Zuko doesn’t do the same for him. Tonight, Sokka will inevitably crack at the near loss of his husband just like all the times before, and Zuko will curl around Sokka, will lull him to sleep with soothing reassurances. And then in the early hours of the morning, they’ll make the exchange again, Zuko recovering from a nightmare of the day’s events and Sokka bracketing his own body around him. It’s a familiar transaction, always taking care of the other, covering blindspots. Sokka’s might not be literal, but Zuko knows he’s still hesitant with the leg he broke as a teenager and that he still struggles at public speaking and that he sometimes overthinks things to the point of exhaustion and Sokka also knows that Zuko will always be there to cover him.

\---

Zuko can barely remember a time when his left side felt vulnerable and unsafe. For years, it’s only been occupied by Sokka, and for just as many years Sokka has only come to mean _home_ and _safe_.

Sokka's his right-hand man, but he's always at Zuko's left.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked this, and i live for comments btw!
> 
> EDIT: Thank you guys for the comments! They make my day and truly appreciate every one!


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